Echo Park Now has been a joy and a pleasure, but with other jobs and busy lives we have been able to take the time to write full articles on EchoParkNow.com
Instead we invite you to join us on social media where we share news and information about all things Echo Park!
Central City Action Committee, which is a nonprofit organization here in Echo Park, is in dire need or repairing its facility’s broken elevator. The facility, which is the old fire station on Edgeware in Angelino Heights, is two stories and needs this elevator!
CCAC handles all the graffiti removal in the neighborhood and also organizes after school activities for our neighborhood youth. Funds are tight with city budget cuts, so now is the time to support this great program through their upcoming Zumbathon event.
Saturday, October 25, doors open at 9am
Tickets are just $10 each. Ages 12 and under are FREE
Good times, raffle prizes, smiles and encouragement
To purchase tickets, call Maryanne Hayashi at (213) 241-0908.
For the first time since its start in Los Angeles four years ago, CicLAvia (a free, open streets event in which streets are closed in favor of bicycles and pedestrians) will be coming to Echo Park this Sunday.
The No Parking signs are already posted for the street closures along Glendale Boulevard and Bellevue, just south of Echo Park Lake. At the corner of Glendale and Bellevue is the “Echo Park Hub,” where there will be a DJ, a KPCC booth and food trucks like Fluff Ice, the Grilled Cheese Truck and Mandoline Grill.
Ciclavia will speak Thursday night at the Echo Park Improvement Association Town Hall on the street closures and what else to expect. The major concern with the event is cyclists making their way into Echo Park Lake, where skating and cyclists are not allowed.
The meeting will be held at Barlow Hospital in Williams Hall at 7:00 pm. All are welcome.
Please join Council District 13, the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Echo Park Historical Society for a free screening of the classic Hollywood film “Sunset Blvd.” compliments of Paramount Pictures.
The Echo Park Film Center will start the evening with a few of their student shorts and then the feature production.
Pack a picnic, bring a blanket and chairs, and enjoy the movie under the stars by the magical Echo Park Lake.
The 34th Lotus Festival takes place this weekend, July 12 and 13. This year’s host country is the Philippines.
This is not only the first year since the park was closed and renovated, it’s been a few years since there have been actual Lotus flowers blossoming at the lake. There will also be the return of the Dragon Boat races, as well as some delicious food, entertainment, performances, music and dancing.
To kick off the festivities, Council District 13 is hosting Echo Park Night on Friday, July 11 with a film screening and live music. Picnic baskets and blankets encouraged!
Opening ceremony for the festival starts at noon on Saturday, July 12. Check back on this post for schedule updates as we get them!
Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell presents:
Join business and community leaders, meet with neighbors and learn about city services.
Councilmember O’Farrell and will also walk the neighborhood, going door-to-door to speak with residents about important city services.
Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 9:30am-Noon
Echo Park Lake (Glendale Boulevard & Park Avenue)
Questions? Contact Silvan de la Cruz at sylvan.delacruz@lacity.org
The facade of the building at 1501 W Sunset Boulevard has not been seen in quite some time now – until this weekend. The huge ficus tree covering the front of these buildings was cut down over the weekend, leaving nothing but a pile of sawdust behind.
The ficus was removed as part of the Sunset Boulevard beautification project, as well as the overall need to repair sidewalks. Approximately three dozen trees will be removed along the Echo Park corridor, but will also be replaced by 100.
The Easter holiday is upon us, and there are some great family friendly activities happening around Echo Park. Although Sunday, April 20 is the official holiday itself, events start this weekend.
The Spring Egg Hunt takes place this Saturday, April 12 from 2-5:00 pm at the Echo Park Recreation Center playground (1632 Bellevue Avenue).
Egg Hunt start times are:
5 years & under: 3:00 pm
6-8 years: 3:30 pm
9 years & older: 4:00 pm
Activities include arts and crafts, face painting, music, egg hunts and a visit from The Spring Bunny (all are free).
For more information email echoparkrc@lacity.org
The healthiest egg hunt in town! The annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Echo Park Farmers’ Market takes place on Friday, April 18 starting at 4:00 pm.
The craft table will be set up for Easter arts and crafts, and the Easter Bunny will be on hand to take photos (bring your cameras!).
Toddlers ages five and under will start at 5:00 pm, ages six and over at 6:00 pm.
Although not technically an Easter event, the Festival of Childhood on April 26 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm is a great spring event for families.
The annual event, hosted by Echo Parenting & Education, is a free outdoor community day of play and creativity for families from all over Los Angeles. There will be a rock climbing wall, face painting, crafts, story time, street painting, children’s dance groups and live musical performances. Reservoir street closure begins at the Echo Park Methodist Church, where the event is taking place.
Click here for more info or email aortiz@echoparenting.org
Get involved, vote informed! Neighborhood Council elections for the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC) takes place on Saturday, April 12, 2014. The Echo Park Improvement Association is hosting a candidate forum on Thursday, April 3 where all those running for a position have been invited to introduce themselves.
When to vote: Elections are Saturday, April 12, 2014, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at the Edendale Branch Library (2011 West Sunset Boulevard).
How to vote: Bring TWO copies of documentation, such as a drivers license and a utility bill. For the full list of acceptable forms of documentation, click here. For more information on the elections, click here.
To view a list of current candidates, click here.
All are welcome! Bring yourself, your neighbors, your input, and join us at Barlow Hospital, located at 2000 Stadium Way, in Williams Hall.
Echo Park resident Art Meza spotted a bear in a tree on Park Drive along Elysian Park earlier this week. Neighbors say it’s been around for a while.
As part of a series of community events and cleanups, Angel City Brewery is organizing a cleanup in Echo Park this weekend on Saturday, February 8.
The cleanup area will focus on Sunset Boulevard and adjacent streets in the area around the Short Stop (toward the eastish end of Echo Park).
Want to help out? Meet at 1:00 pm at Sunset Beer Company to pick up trash bags, gloves, trash grabbers, and a volunteer t-shirt. Angel City staff members will also be providing Trash BINGO boards for you to mark off what you find on the streets – the winner gets an Angel City gift certificate and goodies.
The cleanup will go until 2:30 pm, at which time we’ll end up at the Short Stop for some post cleanup up beer and snacks.
Email Emily at Emily@angelcitybrewery.com to register, and let her know your t-shirt size.
See you Saturday!
Mark your calendars: The Central City Action Committee (in charge of that graffiti removal in our neighborhood as well as after school programs for kids) is having a rummage sale!
They get some awesome, I mean FANTASTIC donations to help raise money for its programs. We’ve heard of prizes that were not collected from The Price is Right get donated here. Vintage items, clothes, toys, furniture, books, household items, and more! A couple of new items include an electric fireplace, an “Abdominal Track System Exercise Machine” (will have to go to the sale to see what this thing is), and a child inflatable jumper.
Check it out on Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14 from 10:30 am – 5:30 pm.
Who knows, maybe the Abdominal Track System Exercise Machine will make a perfect V-day gift for your significant other!
The CCAC is located at the old fire station at 534 E Edgeware Road.
We’re pretty sure – pretty sure – Echo Park is in Pharrell’s music video, “Happy,” quite a bit. After all, there’s definitely Atwater Village, Downtown Los Angeles, Los Feliz, Highland Park…. And while we’ve only watched the short version of the music video shown below (there’s a 24 hour long version), a few months ago the video shoot was spotted in at least one spot. Here’s a couple from Baxter:
Notice the vintage boomboxes in the background of the RadioShack commercial aired during the Super Bowl yesterday? The items on the shelf in the background had to look a little more like the ’80s for the commercial’s throwback theme (remember those music playing devices called a “boombox”?).
A few of these items on the shelf came from Echo Park’s vintage electronics store Rewind Audio, the store said in a Facebook post. In addition to selling great audio equipment, some items are available for renting for things like video shoots (shameless plug: you’ll see one such Rewind Audio boombox in my husband’s own music video).
A wave of recent restaurant and storefront closures (Villainy, Barragans, and more) in Echo Park has many wondering about the changing face of the neighborhood. But there’s been some new activity in those sad, dusty storefronts that will hopefully make Sunset Boulevard feel a little less empty.
Photo via Villainy General Store
This restaurant space, formerly Nuvia’s and then La Botana, has been closed down for nearly two years. Located on the north side of Sunset between Laveta and McDuff, we thought we were getting a gastropub in the space back in 2012. But The Eastsider LA reports some new activity in the space – unfortunately the owners did not provide any details on what kind of restaurant. One things is for sure – we hope it’s not another pizza joint.
The owners expect to open in four months.
Owner of Cafe Stella in Silver Lake, Gareth Kantner, purchased the building on Sunset where E’Pack Family Clothing Store plus the Sunset Snack stand is. Well, was. Recently the construction wall (what the heck do they call those?) went up around the storefront, a sign that the transformation into new take-out and dine-in sandwich shop has begun.
Kantner told The Eastsider LA they expect to open in February of this year. In addition to sandwiches like Lobster Rolls and Po’boys, there will be grilled meats, vegetarian dishes, and oven-baked pizzas.
FINALLY something is being done to the former Save-A-Lot store next to the Walgreens at Sunset and Logan. The grocery chain shut down in March of 2011, and has been sitting vacant ever since. There were pipe dreams of a Trader Joe’s, and what appeared to be decent traction on a Fresh & Easy until the company went bankrupt.
Although we knew Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins was taking over the location back in June, there is now some signage and a lot of activity in the building. We’re not sure when the store will open, however we’re not sure how well-received the location will be in Echo Park – the Lassen family has in the past made donations in support of Prop 8, which many aren’t happy about.
Still a work in progress, despite hopes to open in December, Trencher took over a former Mexican/Salvadorian place (before that Phnom Penh’ Vietnamese) on Portia and Sunset. Expect pulled pork sandwiches, open-faced sandwiches, tofu banh mi, sliders, and more. We’re standing by for the opening any day now.
Barragan’s held it’s farewell party in December, and the change of ownership notification lists The Lost Knight as the new business name under the control of Alan Moore. We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about what this space will bring… what do you think? For now, the front doors of Barragan’s sit quietly in the shadows.